


The Rise of the House of Usher

by FleetSparrow



Series: Story a Day in May 2020 [6]
Category: The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24051451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/pseuds/FleetSparrow
Summary: When the house falls, so does Roderick.  But what happens when the house rises again?
Relationships: Narrator/Madeline Usher
Series: Story a Day in May 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727173
Kudos: 2





	The Rise of the House of Usher

I was struck suddenly by the horrible truth: we had buried her alive! She had clawed her way out of her casket, out of her sepulcher, and was now climbing the stairs. The house, in its anger at her treatment, was destroying itself. I begged Roderick to come with me, but he was immovable.

“I buried her, and now she comes to bury me!”

With one final look at my friend, I fled that house of death just before it came crashing down.

The ruins served as a new cemetery for the Usher family. I hung my head. My friend, my love, was gone. I turned my horse away, ready to ride away from that accursed house forever, when the stones behind me rumbled. In horror, I looked back.

Madeline was rising from the wreckage, her hair was wild, her dress—the one we’d buried her in—was bloodied. But that did not trouble me as much as the fact that the house was rebuilding itself. Madeline raised her arms and let out a cry and the very stones which had once made up the Usher manor rose up once more. I stared in terror as the broken house knitted itself back together.

And then Madeline fell to the ground.

I rushed forward, not knowing whether the house would collapse again, but knowing that I had to reach her. I touched her, and she was warm, so warm with life that it made me wonder how we ever could have mistaken her for dead. She looked up at me and raised her hand, raking her nails across my left cheek. It is a scar I still bear today, my punishment for my role in her burial.

She collapsed into my arms. I did not know what to do, so I held her there until she woke. I did not trust the house to remain standing, and so we stayed outside. Finally, she opened her eyes again. Roderick’s eyes stared back at me.

“We are one,” she said, and I swear I heard my dear friend in that voice.

Only one Usher has ever survived that horrible house. And so, only one physically did. I took her away from there. One day, perhaps we shall return to it. Perhaps when our own children are out of danger of its madness.

For now, the line of Usher continues.

And the house still stands.


End file.
